Means and method for oiling and moistening cotton



Sept. 18, 1934. G. HILL- v 1,973,151 MEANS AND ua'ruop FOR oluuekripMOISI'ENING cowwou Filed'llay a. 1951 sh ts-sfin' 1' Georgi Hill w G.HILL 1,973,761

MEANS AND IETHDD FOR OILING AND MOISTEIIING COTTON Sept. 18, 1934.

Filed May 8. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jwumkw George Hi] I rum um 115mlEllllllllllllllllllllll l Se t. 18, 1934. G HI L 1,973,761

MEANS AND METHOD FOR OILING AND MOISTENING COTTON Filed May 8, 1931 3Sheets-Sheet 3 flllw \lllllllllllilIlIlIHlllillllllll s minimum-rgwomtoz George Hi1 J Patented Sept. 18, 1934 MEANS AND METHOD FOR OILINGAND MOISTENING COTTON George Hill, Wellford, S. 0.

Application May 8, 1931, Serial No. 535,995

17 Claims. (01. 19-66) use with machines used in manufacturing raw.

cotton and other fibrous materials into yarns or cloth in which form itis usually placed on the market. In machines and methods heretofore usedin oiling cotton and other fibrous materials it has been diflicult tohave the oil penetrate evenly into the cotton or other fiber so thatsubstantially all of the fiber was given the same amount of oil.

An object of my invention is to provide a device by means of which oilwill be evenly distributed over the fiber and caused to penetrate evenlythroughout the fiber.

A further object is to provide an improved pump for supplying the oil tothe fiber. I

A still further object is to provide a machine for moistening cotton orother fiber either in its raw state or after it has been converted. intothreads.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds.

To simplify the description and to avoid needless repetition, the wordcotton will be used but the machine is designed to treat any similarfibrous material, and should be so understood.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof andon which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a cotton rolling machine of wellknown construction having my invention applied thereto,

Figure 2, a detail showing the connection oi? the oil supply with an airblast jet for spraying the oil upon the cotton,

Figures 3 and 4 are small detail views of two .forms of jets or nozzlesthrough which the oil is sprayed,

Figure 5 is a side elevation 01' a pump for delivering oil to the jets,

Figure 6, an end elevation as seen from the left of the pump shown inFigure 5,

Figure 7, a detail view showing mechanism for stopping and starting theoil pump,

Figure 8, a section on line 88 of Figure '7,

Figure 9, a modified form of machine usedfor adding moisture to cottonfiber, and

Figures 10 and 11 are modified devices showing different locations forthe oil nozzle.

In Figure 1 is shown a machine of well known construction in which rawcutton is rolled into sheets.

cleaned in previous operations, is delivered by The cotton, generallyafter having been means of a conveyor 10 through rolls 11 to beaterchamber 12 in which it is operated upon by heaters 13 which separate thefibers from the mass and straighten them as they are separated so thatthe fibers, after having been acted upon by the beaters, are in a highlydivided state. The usual perforated grid 14 being positioned beneath thebeater chamber 12. From the beater chamber the cotton is carried througha chamber 15, thence through rollers 16 and on through the machine. Theother mechanism which engages the cotton forms no part of the presentinvention and therefore will not be, described further. My inventionprovides mechanism shownas a whole at 17 for delivering oil upon thecotton at a point where it will most completely impregnate the greatestnumber of fibers of the cotton. This is at the point where the cotton issubjected to the treatment in the beater chamber 12 to separate andstraighten the fibers. The mechanism for supplying oil-to the cottonwill now be described.

This consists of an air manifold 18 to which air under suitable pressureis supplied from any suitable source. Attached to the manifold 18 areoutlet tubes 19 in the lower end of which are positioned nozzles 20. Thenozzle 20 has a restriction at 21 and the outer end of the nozzle isslotted at 23 as shown in Fig. 3 or is provided with a number of smallholes 22 as shown in Figure 4. In either case the oil issues from thenozzle in a sprayed jet which is either in sheet form or in the form ofa number of radially spreading jets. As shown in-Figure 1, the ends orthe nozzles are disposed within the beater 9 chamber '12 and are sopositioned as tor-direct the spray of. oil upon the cotton fibers a't'the point or points where they are acted upon; by the heaters 13, sothat the heaters not only separate and straighten the fibers but tend tomechanically distribute the oil over the fibers as they are separated.The tubes 19 are-provided with oilconne'ctions at 24 to which oil pipes25 are attached in any suitable way as by unions'26. Oilunder pressureis supplied toeach of the tubes 25 by means of a pump shown as a wholeat 27. This pump consists of a number of pumping chambers'each having aninlet and a discharge port. The inlet'ports are connected to a commoninlet manifold 28 to which oil may be supplied in any suitable way. Theoutlets of the pumps are connected to pipes 25. The pumps are of thereciprocating type in which solid pistons opf erate. The pistons are allconnected to-a common -operating head 29 which is guided upon suitableguides 30 and 31. The head is operated by means of a link 32.

The means for reciprocating the pump pistons is shown in detail inFigures 5 and 6 and consists of an arm 33 pivoted to the frame of thepump at 34. To the hub of this arm is attached a short arm 35 to theouter end of which is attached the operating link 32. An arm 36 pivotson a; shaft 3'7 on the frame of the machine and has on its lower end agear segment 38. Secured on the other end of the shaft 37 is an arm 39which is slotted and pivotally connected by means of a bolt 40 with thearm 33. The pivotal bolt 40 may be adjustable longitudinally of the arms33 and 39"to provide means for Varying the length of stroke imparted tothe pump pistons. The gear segment 38 is operated by means of a train ofgears 41, 42 and 43 in which a small pinion operates on a larger gear toprovide speed reduction in a well known manner. The gears are driven bya pinion 53 operating on a pinion 44 which meshes with the gear 41.Pinion 53 1am the inner end of a shaft 45 on the outer end of which is a.sprocket 46 over which operates a sprocket chain 47 which is driven bya sprocket 48 upon the outer end of a shaft on which roller 49 ismounted. The sprocket chain 47 is continuously driven. The pinions53'and 44 are contin uously driven, pinion 41 is movable axially to en-'g ze and disengage the pinion 44. The pinion 41is mounted on a shaft 50on the other end of which is a pinion 51 which engages with and drivesthe gear 43. The: shaft 50 is movable axially to engage and disengagegear 41 from the gear 44 by means of a rocker 52 which is pivoted at 54on the frame of the machine. A spring 55 engages the other endof therock arm and tends to hold the gear 41 in mesh with the gear 44. Thesegears are moved out of mesh by means of a rod 56 on which is secured acollar 57 engageable with the end of the arm 58. The rod 56 is connectedto a'lever 59 by means of which it is operated, this lever being a wellknown part of a machine for rolling cotton of the type to which thisinvention is applied. A weighted arm 66 is provided for resetting thepistons when the clutch has been released. A stop 6'7 limits thebackward stroke.

' When the rod 56 is operated to control a clutch which controlsmovement of the cotton material the pump is stopped to stop the supplyof oil being sprayed upon the top of the material.

- oughly mixes with the cotton and so oils all of Instead of placing theoil nozzle as shownat 17 in Figure 1 it .may be positioned at the pointX and as shown in detail in'Figure 10 in which case the oil is sprayedupon the cotton in the chamber 15. In this position, however, the oilalso thormight supply oil at one, two or all of these positions ifoccasion seemed to require it.

In Figure 9 is illustrated a type of machine for supplying moisture tocotton in the form of threads in which the thread 60 passes over rollers61 and 62 after it has undergone substantially all of its formativeoperations and passing out through a relatively low tunnel 63 wherewater nozzles or jets 64 are positioned to deliver water upon the movingsheet of threads. The nozzle is preferably positioned to project waterin the direction opposite to that in which the thread is moving, thethread, however, is thoroughly coated with a film of water and has thewater evenly distributed over its surface. The nozzle 64 is that shownin detail in Figure 2 and the water supplied to the nozzle may besupplied by a pump similar to that which supplies oil to the oil nozzle.An air duct 68 is provided through which a blast of air is blown by afan, not shown. This blast of air carries the moisture back into thetunnel and assists in distributing it evenly on the fiber.

In applying the water and applying the oil air under pressure isnecessary. This air may be under relatively low pressure and in passingthrough the nozzle 19 it contacts with the oil entering from the port24. In actual operation the oil issuing from the port 24 will tend toadhere to the sides of the nozzle 21. Thevelocity of the air issuingfrom the manifold 18 will tend to stretch out the oil film and the airissuing through the restricted nozzle 21 will tend to break up thestretched film of oil into a fine mist or spray. The oil is verythoroughly atomized by the air and is in tit condition to be sprayed asa fine mist out through the perforated or slotted nozzle 22 or 23. Inany case the oil is rendered sufficiently fine to be sprayed evenly andthoroughly on the. cotton in tlremachine.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe'madein my invention without departing from the spirit thereof andtherefore I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings anddescribed in the specification, but only 'as indicated by the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new anddesire to-secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a machine for rolling cotton and having a heater and a beaterchamber, means for spraying oil upon the cotton in the beater chamber asthe cotton fibers are separated one from another by the beater, saidmeans being positioned-adjacent the beater and comprising a plurality ofnozzles extending into the beater chamber with means for supplying oilunder pressure to the nozzles and means for supplyingair under pressureto atomlze the oil issuing from the nozzles, substantially as set forth.I

2. Ina machine for cleaning and picking cottonand other fibrousmaterials in the pnocess of manufacturing yarns or cloth and othermaterials and having a beater and a beater chamber, means for sprayingoil upon the cotton in the beater chamber as the cotton fibers areseparated one from another by the beater, said means being positionedadjacent the beater and comprising a plu- .rality of nozzles extendinginto the beater chamber with means for supplying oil under pressure tothe nozzles, and means for supplying air under pressure to atomize theoil issuing from the nozzles, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine for rolling fibrous material into sheet form and havingmeans for stopping the I machine after a predetermined quantity of suchmaterial has passed through, a beaterchamber, a beater in said chamberfor separating the fibers of the said material and an oil supplyingnozzle extending into said beater chamber for spraying oil on theseparated fibers at the points of beating, substantially as set forth.

4. In a machine for rolling cotton into sheet 150 I 1,078,701 form andhaving means for stopping the machine after a predetermined quantity ofcotton has passed through, a beater chamber, a beater in the chamber forseparating the cotton fibers and an oil supplying nozzle extending intosaid beater chamber for spraying oil on the separated cotton fibers atthe point of beating, means for supplying pressure to the oil during thetravel of the said cotton and for stopping the delivery of oil when apredetermined amount of cotton has passed through the machine,substantially as set forth.

5. In a machine of the kind described having means for conveying a lapof cotton, a beater chamber through which the cotton is conveyed, abeater in said chamber adapted to separate the fibers from the lap, agrid beneath said chamber, and an oil supplying nozzle extending throughsaid grid and directed to spray oil to the under side of the lap ofcotton as it enters the beater chamber and is acted upon by the beater,substantially as set forth.

6. In a machine of the kind described having means for conveying a lapof cotton, a heater chamber into which the cotton is conveyed, a

ing a beater chamber, means for conveying a lap of cotton to the beaterchamber and for delivering it into the rear of the chamber, means extending into the beater chamber for supplying a spray of oil upon thecotton in the chamber at the point of entry of the cotton therein,substantially as set forth. Y

8. In a machine for rolling cotton into sheet form, a beater'chamber,means for introducing cotton fibers in mass-likeform into said chamber,means in said chamber for separating the individual fibers of the cottonone from the other, and means for applying oil to the fibers in thisseparated condition in the beater chamber at the point of separationthereof whereby all of the fibers receive substantially an equal amountof oil, substantially as set forth.

9. In a machine for treating cotton, means for rolling the cotton intosheet form, a chamber having means therein for widely separating theindividual fibers of the cotton, and means in said chamber for applyingoil in a finely divided spray over the separated fibers at the point ofseparation whereby the separated fibers are given substantially an equalamount of oil, substantially as set forth.

10. In a machine for rolling cotton into sheet form, a beater chamber,means for introducing cotton fibers in mass-like form into said chamber,means in the chamber for relatively widely separating the individualfibers'of the cotton one from another, and means for applying oil in acotton, substantially as forth.

11. In apparatus for treating textl ietflbers, a

beater chamber having an opening through which the fibers enter thechamber in mass-like form, rolls insaid opening-between which the fiberspass in entering the chamber, an oil nozzle extending into the beaterchamber and directed to spray oil upon the fibers as they pass frombetween the rolls, a beater in the chamber adapted to act upon saidfibers to separate and straighten the. individual fibers and distributethe oil thereon, and means for operating said beater.

12. In'the process of-treating textile fibers "to form thread, the stepwhich comprises forcibly applying oil in the form of a fine spray to'thefibers at the point of separation of the fibers from a mass 'in a beaterchamber to insure the application of oil to the maximum numberofseparate fibers. l

13. In the process of treating textile fibers to form thread, thesuccessive steps which comprise continuously supplying the fibers inmasslike form to a beater chamber, separating the individual fibers fromthe mass as they enter the beater chamber, and spraying oil upon thefibers at the point of separation in the beater chamber to wet theindividual fibers withoil. 14. In the process of treating textile fibersto form thread, the successive steps which comprise supplying the fibersin mass-like form to a beater chamber, eifecting a separation andstraightenaing of the fibers otthemass at the point of entry into thebeater chamber by means ofa continu v ously rotating beater, andforcingoil through a a. nozzle extending into the beater chamber directed tospray the il upon the separated fibers at the point of separationthereof by the heater to insure the application of oil to the maximumnumber of separated fibers.

15. In apparatus for treating textile fibers, a beater chamber\ havingan opening through which the fibers enter the chamber in mass-likefor-m, rolls in said opening between whichthe fibers pass in enteringthe chamber, a heater in said chamber for separating the fibers from the1 mass as the mass enters the chamber, a grid below said openin an oilnozzle extending into the beater chamber through said grid and directedupwardly to spray oil upon the fibers as they enter between the rollsand are separated by the beater, means for operating said heater, andmeans for forcing oil through said nozzle.

16. In the process of treating cotton fibers to form thread, the stepswhich comprise separating the fibers each from the others within achambered member, and applying oil to the separated cotton fibers at thepoint of separation to insure the application of oil to the greatestnumber of separated fibers.

17. In the process of treating fibrous material, the stepswhich'comprise introducing the fibrous material into a beater chamber,separating the fibers of said material each from the others in saidbeater chamber, and applying a moistening fluid to said fibers atsubstantially the point of introduction thereof into said beaterchamber.

GEORGE HILL.

